The present application relates to compositions and methods for detecting faecal contamination in animal carcasses, meat obtained therefrom and products produced by or obtained from animals in particular to faecal markers for use in such methods and compositions.
Cleanliness in the abattoir is of the utmost importance and numerous practices are carried out on farms to ensure that the animals arrive at the abattoir with limited faecal matter clinging to the hide. Such strategies include: change to hay and cereal based diets before slaughter to encourage ‘dry’ faeces; cleaning the animals before they travel; reducing stress on the animals during transport and at the abattoir to limit pathogen shedding. However, even with these strategies in place, a major source of contamination in the abattoir is from small traces of faeces still associated with the hide coming into contact with the dressed carcass. Currently carcasses are checked by ‘eye’ and washed with chemical sprays or dissected to remove contaminated areas. This runs the risk of missing small areas of faecal contamination which could harbour lethal pathogens such as E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter. The problems are prevalent in the processing of various animals, including, for example, cattle and poultry. In the case of poultry, and in particular chickens, the presence of faecal contamination on eggs is also of concern.
A known method, called Verifeye®, uses natural levels of chlorophyll to visualise faecal contaminants. However this technology has not been universally accepted due to the variation of chlorophyll in different diets. For example the difference in the amount of fluorescence between animals grazing fresh pasture and animals on a barley beef system would be huge meaning that it is not possible to accurately attribute actual fluorescence to faecal spoilage. One such method is described in International patent application number PCT/US99/03961, published under the number WO99/45138.
Thus, a need exists for improved methods of detecting faecal contaminants in meat. In particular methods are needed which can be used in detecting faecal contaminants during the processing of animal carcasses from a variety of animals and production systems.